


The Wedding gift

by StrangeViber100



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Jopper, Wedding Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21575122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrangeViber100/pseuds/StrangeViber100
Summary: Two days out from their wedding, Joyce and Hop get a surprise from the postman.
Relationships: Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper
Comments: 1
Kudos: 25





	The Wedding gift

Joyce and Hop sat at the kitchen table going over their wedding checklist. Coffee in hand, they went through each item in detail, taking notes and problem solving as necessary. They had just about convinced themselves that they could pull this thing off without a hitch. They weren’t planning anything fancy. Neither of them wanted a huge event. It was going to be a simple ceremony, after all. Joyce wanted an outdoor wedding and Hop loved the idea. They would wed at the rose garden in the park off of Main Street. She had bought a simple lacy white dress and she would wear flowers In her hair. Hop would wear his dark suit. They invited just a few friends and the justice of the peace would officiate. The ceremony would be followed by a fairly low-key get-together down at the community center afterward for cake and punch. Their kids would be there to celebrate with them. Nothing too fancy or complicated. Who could blame Joyce for assuming she could get a small wedding like that planned in just one month?

Really Joyce didn’t have much experience planning weddings. When she married Lonnie the wedding had consisted of a trip to the courthouse. Period. No guests, no reception, no photographer. They’d snapped a few photos with her mother’s borrowed camera and that was that. All in all, the wedding - along with the man she married - was more of a disappointment than anything. She wanted this wedding to be different. It would be a small, intimate family affair and she wanted it to feel special, unlike her first. She already knew she was getting a much higher caliber of husband this time. Now she just needed to focus on the wedding portion of the equation and honestly, how hard could that be?

Yes, she’d been warned. Upon the announcement of the wedding date, Nancy was concerned, to say the least. She had pulled her aside and suggested that maybe she should move the date out just a little bit. “How about a fall wedding?” she’d asked. “No,” said Joyce. “We don’t want to wait. We’ll make it work.”

Why should they wait? Too much time had been taken from them already. Hop was home, after all that painful time apart. He hadn’t just returned, he was back from the dead. They both felt like they had been given another chance at happiness. They were in love and they wanted to get on with the next chapter of their lives and move away from all that darkness as quickly as possible. So they set that date, one month down the road, and Joyce got busy.  
Unfortunately, getting everything accomplished in so short a time was was proving to be a difficult promise to keep, but she had no doubt it would all work out. She had enlisted a surprisingly enthusiastic Hop to help her and she was focused on the goal. She was very, very good under pressure.

So here they sat, on a Thursday afternoon, two days away from the ceremony, hammering out the last of the details.

Joyce called out, “Okay, number twenty-five. Cake.”

Hop read from his notes, “Will be ready to pick up at ten on Saturday. Jonathan and Nancy will pick up the cake some time before noon and deliver it downtown,” Hop replied.

“Perfect. Number twenty-six. Photographer... I think Jonathan has everything he needs. But would you make sure he has enough film?”

“Will do.” Hop’s hand immediately snapped the pen out of his front pocket. With a click, he scribbled something on the notepad in front of him and returned it.

“Okay.” She paused to sip at her coffee. “Next, number twenty-seven. Haircuts for all three of you you boys.”

“Tomorrow. We are all meeting at the barber shop at two.”

“Good. Twenty-eight. Your suits.”

“Will be picked up from the dry cleaners tomorrow, immediately before haircuts.”

“Hop, do you think you could help Will pick out a new tie while you are out? I really don’t like that yellow one, and I can’t find any of his others.”

“Absolutely.”

“Thanks. Number twenty-nine. Honeymoon.”

“Reservations confirmed. Husband-to-be, ready.”

She smiled and looked up at him. He gave her a wink. He had a very mischievous look on his face.

“Good,” she grinned over her notepad, then it was back to business. “Number thirty,” she continued, but she was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“I got it,” Hopper said as he stood up and headed for the front of the house.

He returned rather quickly holding a large box wrapped neatly in shipping paper. “Mailman had something for us.”

“What is is?” asked Joyce.

“Beats me, but I think I know who it’s from,” he said with a grin.

Hop placed the box on the table in front of them, and Joyce stood up to get a better look. The package was addressed simply to “Joyce and Jim”. The writing had a distinctive, somewhat familiar flourish. ‘FRAGILE ‘ was written on every side In big block letters. She couldn’t quite place the writing, but when she looked at the location where the return address should be, it all became clear to her who had sent the package. Instead of a name and address was a small cartoonish bald eagle drawn messily in black ink.

“Murray!?” Joyce exclaimed.

“I think so,” chuckled Hop.

“Oh my gosh! This is unexpected. That does look like his writing, right?” she asked as she moved closer.

“Yeah, I think so. Murray Bauman: Code Name Bald Eagle,” Hop chuckled. “Too paranoid even to use a return address. Should we open it now?”

“Absolutely! I’m too curious to wait,” she said.

“Me too.”

Hop pulled out his pocket knife and went to work carefully slicing through the packing tape. He pulled back the brown wrapping to reveal a plain cardboard box underneath. Next, he sliced through the tape sealing that box and opened it to reveal an immaculately wrapped package inside it, cushioned by crumpled newspapers. The gift wrap was brushed silver with small embossed white flowers. A huge, white ribbon with tiny tendrils of silver running through it was wrapped around the package and expertly tied into a gorgeous bow.

“Wow” muttered Hopper. “That’s unexpected.”

Joyce reached out to touch the ribbon. “It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah. Let’s see what’s inside.” He gently lifted the package out of the larger box and set it on the table. “Do you want to do the honors?”

“Sure,” she said. “I can’t believe he sent us a gift. He’s really a sweet guy, you know.”

“Who, Murray??”

Joyce gave him a look.

“I joke Joyce. He’s a real stand-up guy. I mean, without him I probably wouldn’t be here right now.” He didn’t even want to think about it. Murray had helped find him and get him home, and he truly did feel a sense of gratitude and fondness for that crazy son of a bitch.

Joyce returned her attention to the package. She slid the ribbon off and began to carefully remove the paper to reveal a white box underneath. She removed the lid. The box was full of colorful shredded paper that had cushioned the contents on its journey. Nestled on top was a cream colored envelope with “Jim and Joyce” written on it. She opened the envelope to reveal a standard wedding greeting card with a floral motif on the front and a simple boilerplate “*Wishing you joy on your wedding day”* above a handwritten note.

To Jim and Joyce,  
May your future be filled with love and contentment.  
Mazel Tov!  
Murray

Joyce was genuinely touched. “Aww. That’s so nice!” Hop thought she looked like she might cry.

Jim hugged her to him, kissing her forehead. “Yeah, that is nice,” he admitted.

She lay the card on the table and turned back to the box and began removing the packing material. The first thing she uncovered was a heavyish cylindrical shape wrapped in tissue paper. When they saw it and heard the sloshing of liquid inside they were both fairly certain what it was. She handed it to Hop.

He chuckled as he removed the tissue paper to reveal a bottle of Stolichnaya vodka. “He sent us a bottle of Stoli!” He laughed. He raised the bottle in a gesture of tribute and placed it on the table. “Good man!”

Below another layer of shredded paper was a plain white unmarked box. It was the right size and weight for a book. “Hmm...” she mused. “Maybe a wedding album?” But it wasn’t quite the right shape for that, she thought.

“Maybe.”

“It’s heavy,” she said as she lifted it just off the table, testing its weight. “It feels like a book.“ She gently removed the lid and lay it next to the box.

It was nothing they ever expected. It took a moment to process what they were seeing. With eyes wide she gasped as her hand reflexively covered her mouth while simultaneously jumping backwards. Hop still stood there, frozen, holding her shoulders, steadying her, his mouth gaping in amazement.

On the table before them was indeed a book, not a wedding album. It was entitled *The Complete Illustrated Kama Sutra. A Guide for Lovers.*

They looked at each other in amazement. Joyce’s mouth was moving, though it appeared that she had lost the ability to produce any sound at all. Her cheeks were flushed bright red. Hoppers cheeks were similarly flushed, but not to the extent of Joyce’s, though the tips of his ears were giving her cheeks a run for their money. Suddenly, they both burst into laughter. She fell into his arms and they laughed until he they could barely breathe.

“Murray you crazy son of a bitch!” laughed Hop.

“Oh my gosh! Hop! Wha-“ she began. “I can’t believe he did that!”

“Good ol’ Murray. Unbelievable.”

Hop stepped forward cautiously and lifted the front cover. He let go of it and allowed it to fall back down and he burst into laughter again. “Joyce!” he exclaimed, “you’ve gotta see this! He signed it!”

“You’re joking!” She reached forward, lifter the cover and opened it. There on the first page in a huge flowery script was the following pithy note that took up the entire page:

“Enjoy, lovebirds!  
All my best, Murray”

That broke them both. They laughed harder than they had in some time. The whole thing was so awkward and so strange, and so, so Murray. After a few moments, Hop managed to pull his chair out a bit and sit back down at the table. He reached for Joyce’s hand and pulled her into his lap. She put his arms around his neck.

“That was fun,” she said. “I haven’t laughed that hard in a while.”

“Me neither,” he laughed. “Unbelievable. Your cheeks are red,” Hop stated simply as he pressed a kiss to each of them.

“Yes, I bet. They feel so hot! I just... I mean, that was just unexpected.”

“It really was,” he agreed.

“So...” she began cautiously, “how’d you like Murray’s present?”

“Well, I think he certainly got the last laugh with this one. But yeah, I like it. I mean, not that I necessarily think we *need* it,” he emphasized.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I’m happy with the physical part of our relationship. How about you?”

“Very happy.” She felt her cheeks flushing again and suddenly felt a little shy. She brushed a kiss across his lips.

“But, I mean,” he continued, “as long as he sent it, we might want to at least take a look and see what’s in there. Who knows, even an old dog can learn new tricks, right?”

She laughed. “Yes, I suppose so. And I wouldn’t want to let a perfectly good wedding gift go to waste.”

“No, we just can’t let that happen,” he said with mock seriousness. “It would be a tragedy.” He reached up and brushed a wisp of hair out of her eye.

She glanced at her watch, then put her arms around his shoulders. “So, the kids are out for at least another couple of hours. You want to go upstairs and maybe...check it out?”

“Well...” he began as he shifted her up further into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her under her shirt, pulling her closer in. “No. Not yet. But what I think we *should* do is pack it for the honeymoon, where we’ll have plenty of time on our hands to really explore it in depth. I mean, it’s a big book. That’s a lot of information to get through.”

“That’s a good point. Then we could really give it the attention it deserves.”

“And in the meantime,” he continued, “since we do have a couple of hours, I say we head upstairs and maybe, for today, just do things the same old boring way we’ve been doing it.”

“Well, if you’re sure it’s not too boring for you.”

“Oh no. I like the way we’ve already been doing it. I’m sort of attached to a couple of our go-to moves, as a matter of fact. I’m sure I won’t get *too* bored.” He kissed her long and slow.

When he pulled away, she smiled at him. “Hmm... yeah, I see your point, and I like the way you think.” She kissed him again. “So, what are we waiting for?”  
She stood up,took his hand and started to pull him if from the chair.

“Oh wait. We can’t,” he said.

“We *can*.”

“No, we can’t. We’ve got this checklist to get through,” he said, teasing her. “Wedding’s two days away Joyce. I just don’t think we have the time.”

“Hop!” she laughed, “It can wait.”

“I don know Joyce. Two days.”

“It’ll be fine,” she insisted.

“Well, okay, then. I’ll let you talk me into it.” He glanced at the clock. “But we only have two hours. Let’s go!” He hopped up and grabbed the book from the table. “And let’s put this in the suitcase right now.”

And in a flash, they disappeared down the hall, hand in hand.


End file.
